Man who tried to kill Muslims at Finsbury mosque has been found guilty of murder

Darren Osborne, 48, ploughed into people in Finsbury Park in June last year, killing Makram Ali, 51, and injuring nine others.

Darren Osborne, giving evidence said he and ‘Dave’ drove around London to find a place to attack and claim that someone else was driving the van when they ploughed into Muslims in which Makram Ali, 51, died.

Darren added they wanted to attack Hussain a labour politician in Rochdale.

They then changed their target to Quds day march as they would be able to kill more and Jeremy Corbyn was attending the event as well.

Jonathan Rees, prosecution asked Darren if he wanted to kill Corbyn to which he replied “Oh yeah, it would be one less terrorist [on] our streets.” He added: “And if Sadiq Khan [the London mayor] had been there it would have been even better. It would have been like winning the lottery.”

When the failed to attack the Quds day event he roamed around London and decided to meet in Finsbury Park which is Corbyn’s constituency. Darren claims he only went there to have a drink with Dave but Dave got into his van and carried out the attack as he didn’t want to attack because he had lost the nerve.

Darren failed to explain why his intended defence statement differed from the supplementary statement he gave on Tuesday.

In the First statement Darren said he knew Dave’s intention of the attack and he fully backed him. In the later statement Darren said he had no idea of Dave’s intention and he did not support him.

Darren also failed to explain how Dave got out of the van just seconds before the attack.

Osborne denied Rees’s suggestion that he was “playing it for laughs”, saying: “I’m at a loss why you would draw that conclusion.” Asked if he would support further attacks, he said: “Something needs to be done, this can’t carry on.”

Evidence were presented at Woolwich Crown Court that Darren was alone at the time of the attack. Just after the medical examination when Darren was interviewed, Darren said “I am flying solo, mate.”

Daren said to PC Paul Dring that no one else was involved.

PC Jones body camera’s footage was also shown to the court where Darren said: “I lost control of the van … lost control, man.” When Darren was asked if he was the driver, he replied “Yeah”

Abdul Matin Chowdhury and Ibrahim Ikar ‘s witness statement were also read to the court in which they testified that Darren was the driver.

The jury took an hour to return the verdict at Woolwich Crown Court.

He was also found guilty of attempt to murder and will be sentenced on Friday.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) welcomed the verdict, but added: “We cannot be complacent and regard this as a one-off terrorist incident.”

Harun Khan, secretary general of the MCB, said: “The scenes we witnessed last summer were the most violent manifestation of Islamophobia yet in our country.

“The case tells us that we must all exercise caution when tempted to stigmatise any group of people, regardless of colour, creed or community.”

Khalid Oumar, a trustee of the mosque and founder of the Finsbury Park Attack victims’ voice forum, praised the strength of the community, adding: “The scars will stay with them forever, but the community is determined to go about daily life without fear and to stand together against victimisation and violence.”